The present invention relates to an airplane seat track used for releasable securing the fitting of the leg of an airplane seat to the floor of the airplane cabin in which the track is mounted.
Such seat tracks are for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,969, 4,796,837 and 5,083,726. The seat track comprises an elongated, rectilinear track body having a hollow, longitudinal slide track. In this slide track fittings may be received and secured at a desired position, which fittings in turn are mounted to the legs of airplane seats. The hollow slide track includes a series of equidistant circular receptacle sections with circular upper openings, which circular receptacle sections alternate with intermediate lip sections of smaller transverse dimensions than the circular receptacle sections. The fittings of the seat legs comprise a body with a base from which tabs are extending. In typical cases there is a pair of opposite tabs at a forward portion of the fitting body and a pair of opposite tabs at a rearward portion thereof; such fittings are sometimes also referred to as double studs. The fittings may be inserted into the slide track with each tab pair being in registration with a respective receptacle sections and then be slit such that the tabs are underneath lip sections. There are means on the seat leg fittings to secure the fittings in the slide track against longitudinal movement, for example a retainer element that is pivotally mounted on the front face of the fitting body and which has a shape that fits to the shape of the receptacle sections openings such that the retainer element may be pivoted into a receptacle opening in front of the fitting opening to thereby lock the fitting against longitudinal movement in the slide track. Furthermore, there may be clamping or wedging means, for example actuated by a screw which permit to pull the tabs against the lower surfaces of the lip sections to thereby clamp the fitting in the slide track.
As a standard, the seat tracks are arranged such that the distance between adjacent receptacle sections is 1 inch (25.4 mm), i.e. the centre points of adjacent circular receptacle sections are spaced apart by 1 inch (25.4 mm). On the other hand, the diameter of the circular receptacle sections is about 20 mm. As a result, there is a distance between adjacent circular receptacle sections in which the lip sections define a slot opening with edges extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the seat track.